Train Me
by Joscelin
Summary: Even though he came from a family of martial artists, Naruto is a very lazy, out-of-shape student. Booze, parties and food are his main hobbies. A string of events leads him to change his outlook on life, his past and his future. Is there anyone who can kick him back into shape and help him achieve his new dream? AU. Rated M for swearing, some fighting and eventual sex. SasuNaru.
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

It was around 2am, and Naruto Uzumaki was bored as he scrolled down a random webpage he stumbled across. He took a large sip of his beer almost finishing the can. Was this his 3rd or 4th tonight? He looked at his bedside table – there were already 4 empty cans standing next to a pizza box and a crumbled bag which a few hours ago contained sweets. Damn it. He promised himself he would finally get back into shape, yet here he was again consuming an ungodly amount of calories in the middle of the night.

When he was young he used to be extremely fit and sporty, especially for his age. Both his parents trained martial arts and competed at an international level. That's actually how they met, at a party during the 1988 Olympics in Seoul. His mother won Bronze in Taekwondo, while his father Gold in Judo. They 'clicked' almost immediately and got married the following year. Minato and Kushina (those were the names of Naruto's parents) moved to Vermont and a few months later their son was born.

Naruto remembered his childhood fondly. Both his parents loved him deeply. He was a very restless child and would most definitely be prone to pranks if his energy wasn't exhausted daily. Fortunately, coming from a family of martial artists, it wasn't a difficult task. Although Minato was away on competitions often (both competing himself, and acting as a coach to a local club) Kushina was able to cope with Naruto easily. He may have taken after his father looks-wise, but his personality was much more like his mother's. Although trained in both, it seemed Taekwondo suited him better than Judo (as far as you can tell for a hyperactive child).

Blond boy smiled sadly to himself. He remembered the proud look on his parents faces when he won his first competition for children at the age of 6. 'You truly are our son, Naruto. You can achieve anything you want. We will be there for you no matter what is it that you pursue in your life, be it martial arts or something completely different. Just sure to give it your best.' his father then said, and at that time Naruto truly believed his every word. He felt blessed to have parents who would support him no matter what. But Minato lied, didn't he?

He closed his laptop, put it back on his desk and headed to the bathroom. He took a quick shower, brushed his teeth and went back to bed, trying to force himself to sleep and not think too much about what would his parents think if they saw him now. He was 19 years old, living alone in tiny, run down flat. As he was studying his days consisted of going to lectures (or most often not going), going out with friends to drink and party, coming back to his room to surf the web and eat. Then again, if they _were_ here, he wouldn't be here in this state. It was their fault, that was his excuse for years. He turned in his bed, turned the pillow around to the cold side and eventually fell asleep.

THUD!

A loud bang woke Naruto up almost immediately. His blood filled with adrenaline, his body in a "fight or flight" mode from the unexpected awakening. He quickly rose from his bed, catching a glimpse of the clock on his desk and looked out of the window.

"You've got to be fucking kidding me." He said loudly. It looked like the seemingly abandoned building site adjacent to his block was finally going to be developed, starting today at 5:45am. Naruto swore again under his breath. Even if he decided to grace the College with his presence today (which last night he decided was unlikely) he didn't have to be up for another 1.5 hours. And seeing as he did not plan to go to any lectures he didn't have to be up at all.

More sounds seemed to be coming from the building site as Naruto debated his options. He wanted to go back to bed and sleep, but without earplugs it seemed pointless. 'I guess since I'm up I _could_ go to lectures…' he winced at the thought, especially as his Monday mornings were the worst – he had Economics, Marketing theory and Math. A very loud and lazy voice in his head urged him to quickly go to a 24h pharmacy down the road, buy earplugs and come back. He would be back in bed within 20 minutes. Seeing as the streets would still be empty at such an ungodly hour he could just put sweatpants and a hoodie on top of his PJs, almost no effort required.

He started flipping through the piles of clothes on his floor when he caught a glimpse of himself in the mirror. Sure was used to seeing himself but for some reason this time round it stopped him in his tracks. He carefully examined an almost foreign person on the other side of the mirror, paying careful attention to his looks for the first time in a long while.

His blond hair was messy and somewhat dull. His skin, although naturally tan had a slightly grey undertone, signalling a less than optimal state of health. He quickly took his shirt off. His stomach was bloated from all the beer and crap food from last night, there was also a noticeable layer of fat covering it. Naruto was lucky he was a mesomorph, his body gained muscle much more quickly than it gained fat. But getting chubby as a result from complete lack of exercise and piles of junk food was something not even his genetics could save him from. He wasn't fat, barely overweight really, but he knew his shape would be in a sharp contrast to what his parents looked like, especially at his age.

He knew what was coming. Every few month or so he would suddenly realise that he really let himself go and needed to do something about it, be it exercise or eat healthy. Shame or guilt associated with the memories of his parents usually worked for a while until he slipped back into his old habits, and soon after he would put the issue at the very far back of his mind.

He stood there for a couple of more minutes before turning back to the piles of clothing on his floor. He spotted the hoodie, but instead of picking it up he walked over to his wardrobe, pulled out a clean top and a pair of jeans and put them on. 'I will go to my lectures today' he decided, surprising even himself. He wasn't sure why, but he felt he _had_ _to _go today.

"Oh my fucking god! Someone please hold me because I must be high. Naruto in the 8am class?" A tall brown haired boy exclaimed as the blond entered the lecture hall.

"Very funny Kiba." Naruto sat down next to the boy punching his side.

"No, seriously man, are you okay? I don't think you ever came earlier than 12, in fact I'm pretty sure the earliest I've seen you was in Advertising which is at 1pm. Did something happen?" Kiba teased him.

"The attention you pay to my presence in lectures is almost touching, I didn't know I occupy so much of your thoughts." Naruto answered causing a few nearby people to laugh.

"Oooh, Kiba. Do you need to tell us something about your affection for Naruto? Maybe we don't know something we should?" a blonde girl standing nearby giggled.

"Ha ha, so funny. Just shut up Ino."

"Oooh, aren't you a bit defensive now? Coming to think of it you two disappeared somewhere at the last party…" Pink haired girl next to him joined in, winking at her friend. She was intentionally aggravating Kiba who was about to lash out on her just as the teacher walked in and the lecture started.

Naruto loved hanging out with his friends, and even though the classes themselves were utterly boring he still had fun. Somehow getting out of bed so early in the morning not only didn't put him in a bad and tired mood, but by lunchtime he felt more energetic than he had in ages.

"Guys there is a societies fair going on today in the Great Hall, should we go check it out?" Ino suggested as they were heading for lunch.

"Societies fair? Now? It's the middle of the academic year, why do they have it now?" Naruto asked surprised.

"Oh, apparently they have it now at the beginning of the second semester too. I think it's mainly targeted at those student who transferred or are here on an exchange this term." Blonde girl explained.

"Booooring." Kiba said loudly.

"I have to agree with Kiba on this one." A large boy walking next to them said. Chouji was taller than Naruto by at least 3 inches, and good 30 pounds heavier. The two of them would sometimes get takeaway together after parties.

"There will be food!" Ino pointed out.

"Ah, sounds interesting then!" Chouji was quick to change his mind when food was involved.

"Meh, I have nothing better to do so I might go check it out." Naruto said. What would he do otherwise? Go home and play games? He might as well hang out with his friends for a while longer.

"I'll go as well. Are you coming, Sakura?" Ino asked her pink-haired friend.

"Sure, why not."

Naruto turned to Kiba and the last of the group, Shikamaru.

"Come on guys, it will be cool. We can laugh at all the stupid societies like Voodoo or Witchcraft and get freebies!"

Deciding it actually sounded pretty fun the two boys decided to join as well. After lunch in the cafeteria the group slowly headed to the Great Hall, which was located in one of the main buildings. The place was pretty packed already. The group decided to start from the left side, heading towards the front of the hall were a stage was located, and then come back to the exist through the right side.

Collecting some pens, pins, candies and bottle openers they made their way across the room.

"Guys, did you see that LoF Society?" Kiba laughed loudly. "Liberty of Females! How stupid does that sound, as if there was still a slave system or something!" he laughed uncontrollably.

"That's nothing, I just spotted the HUMMOUS CLUB!" Naruto told his friends almost in hysterics. Him and Kiba had to stop for a while to catch their breaths from all the laughing.

"Come on guys, I don't want to actually spend the whole afternoon here you know." Ino told them heading towards the stage.

When the two boys came to their senses and were able to stop laughing their group already moved on and they couldn't spot them in the crowd.

"Damn Ino, why is she always so impatient? It was her who suggested it in the first place." Kiba asked rhetorically. "Come on man, let's see what's at the front, they are probably somewhere there."

Naruto followed his friend and soon they spotted a small crowd of people cheering around the elevated part of the hall.

"What's going on there?" Kiba asked trying to see above the cluster of people.

"Dunno, let's check it out." Naruto answered making his way towards the front of the mass.

He stopped abruptly at what he saw. The crowd was gathered around red and blue mats which were laid out on the floor. Two figures were standing opposite each other in a parallel ready stance, Naruto recognised it immediately. They brought their feet together into a closed stance, bowed and braced themselves. This was a Taekwondo match.

The boy on the left had long black hair tided back in a ponytail. He wore white Dobok, the type of clothing worn for Korean martial arts. The focus on his face caused a shiver go down Naruto's spine. The boy's opponent was almost the same height. His hair was also black, but shorter with a spiky back and longer front. His Dobok was black, probably to distinguish the two of them. His eyes were focused solely on his opponent, calm but calculating. Naruto didn't know why, but for some reason he felt almost as if he was having an out-of-body experience. There was nothing surprising about a Taekwondo society at college, but somehow the thought of it didn't ever cross his mind. Probably because he actively chose not to think about stuff associated with his parents majority of the time.

The referee loudly announced the beginning of the match, and even though Naruto registered every move the two sparring boys made, his thoughts were somewhere completely different. What was this weird feeling? It's not like he hasn't seen a Taekwondo match before. He couldn't pinpoint what exactly was going on with him. The mixture of emotions ranged from sadness to curiosity, but most of all – unexplainable excitement and fear. He thought back to the last time he watched a match, but couldn't exactly remember. Could it be he hasn't seen one ever since his parents…?

He pulled himself out of his thoughts and turned his attention to the match again. The long haired boy was now trying to land a _ttwieo chagi_ - jump kick, and he almost succeeded, but it was blocked and immediately countered by _huryeo chagi_ – hook kick. The guy in the black Dobok was fast, Naruto could tell that he was slightly better than his opponent.

"Man, guys in PJs fighting, boring and gay. Let's go." Kiba put his hand on blond's shoulder yawning. "Let's find the rest."

Naruto turned to him reluctantly, not wanting to look away from the fight which he knew would be most likely coming to an end soon.

"You go ahead, I'm gonna see who wins." He told his friend and quickly turned back.

"Suit yourself, we'll wait outside the hall if you don't catch us beforehand."

Naruto just nodded in agreement, his eyes focused on the two Taekwondo fighters. Damn were they good. And so cool! Especially the short haired one. Naruto could tell he spent hours practicing, his moves were precise and calculated. A feeling of sadness overwhelmed him at a sudden realisation. That could have been him. He could have been this good. He could have been _better_, better than both of them. Memories of his parents rushed through his head and he found himself dangerously close to crying.

His attention was brought back to the fight just as the winner was announced, the short haired guy won. Naruto realised he missed the final move. The winner was handed a microphone.

"If you want to improve your fitness and learn how to fight join the Taekwondo club!" he announced loudly. "All levels accepted, all you need is willingness to train and improve. If you have any questions or want to sign up come to the desk on the right over there." He pointed in a general direction and went off the stage.

The crowd started to become smaller, yet Naruto didn't move. 'Any level is accepted…' he thought to himself before his mind went blank.

…Could he do it? Did he want to? Did he want to train again? Would he be able to, considering all the memories associated with it?

He barely registered his own movements until he found himself right next to a large desk with a Taekwondo banner over it. He stared at it for a few seconds.

"Do you wish to join?" A flat, monotone voice right next to him snapped him out of it.

"Oh!" he let out a surprised yelp. "Sorry I didn't even notice you there…" he apologised. He felt more stupid by the minute. The boy in front of him was the same height as him and had fiery red hair. His eyes seemed devoid of emotion but he was looking at Naruto almost expectantly.

"Uh… actually I was just looking…" Naruto couldn't hold the guy's gaze and looked away. "I don't think I'd do well…"

The redhead's deadpan expression didn't change.

"You won't know unless you try." He said simply, handing Naruto a piece of paper which seemed to be a joining form.

"Fill it out and email it to the club if you wish to join. We start next week." The boy stated before taking his leave. Naruto stared at the form in his hand for a good minute before folding it and putting in his bag. He could always just throw it away at any moment. He wasn't going to join, why would he torture himself like that? He wasn't a masochist. He started walking away when he caught a glimpse of the short haired guy who won the match from before. He wasn't exactly sure if he made it up or not, but he could swear that their eyes met for a second longer than they should. He could feel the hair on the back of his neck rise.

Confused and unsure about what he was feeling(or if he was feeling anything to be honest, he couldn't really tell if it was one or the other) he quickly made his way through the crowd towards the exit where his friends were waiting for him.

"Damn it Naruto, what took you so long?!" Kiba shouted at him. "Did you go to sign up to the Lemon Fanta Society?" he laughed at his own joke.

"You know full well Kiba that the only Fanta I would drink is Orange!" Naruto replied.

"Yeah, yeah. Anyway, should we grab something to eat guys? Who's up for some pizza and beer?"

The majority of the group nodded in agreement. Normally Naruto would never pass up on either of the things he found himself wanting to be alone for a while. He excused himself, telling his friends he was tired from getting up so early and headed back to his flat.

He dropped his bag on the floor and went straight to the only picture in the living room. He looked at the two smiling faces in the photograph and didn't move for a long time.

"…Could I still make you both proud?"

* * *

Hi there!

Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the story so far. I used to train Karate a couple of years back, but I decided to go for Olympic martial arts here, even though my knowledge on them might be a bit more limited.

Reviews and your thoughts would be great! (I will be updating The Bucket List soon too!)


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Naruto woke up the next morning to a loud drilling sound. He reached for his mobile to check the time. It was 5:56am. He cursed under his breath and covered his head with a pillow. Surely there were some kind of noise disturbance laws in place which made it illegal for the builders to be this loud at such an early hour?

He went to bed quite early last night, his mind blank from staring at the picture of his parents for so long. Grumbling loudly he decided sleeping without earplugs simply won't happen. He absolutely had to get them today. Slowly he got up and sat at the edge of his bed for a few seconds looking around his flat. It was technically a studio. The large room was his kitchen, living room and bedroom in one. Dirty plates and rubbish piled on his desk, his clothes were scattered all over the floor. He could see the tower of washing up in the sink. Not an uncommon sight for a student dwelling, but nonetheless it was slightly gross.

'I was supposed to clean up yesterday…' he noted to himself. He felt a slight pang if guilt at yet another promise of this sort he didn't keep. He stood up quickly. He didn't have any classes today until 10am. That left him with lots of time to clean up. He used the bathroom, changed out of PJs into tracksuits and let out a loud shout of encouragement.

"Let's do this!" He pulled his sleeves back and started tidying up.

A few hours later Naruto was looking around his considerably cleaner flat. Sure, his shirts still weren't folded perfectly (some of them weren't folded at all) but at least they were all in the closet. He washed all the dishes and threw the rubbish out. The flat looked _almost_ pleasant he noted to himself.

He opened the cupboard in order to prepare breakfast. His hand landed on a large cup of ramen but he hesitated. He knew how unhealthy the stuff was, I mean come on! What kind of healthy food would involve adding water to dried noodles and powder?

He retrieved his hand and closed the cupboard. The productive start of the day put him in the kind of mood were you want to improve more, it gave him a nice feeling of satisfaction he hasn't felt in a long while. He turned to his fridge and scanned its contents.

'Gone-off milk, butter, 5 cans of beer, raspberry jam…' he scratched his cheek. Nothing one would consider breakfast material on its own. He looked at the clock on the wall, it was almost 9:25am. He really didn't have the time to go to the shop to buy anything for breakfast before his classes.

Wait. When did he decide to go to his class? Naruto wasn't sure if it ever happened before but somehow it only seemed natural that since he is up and awake he needed to go. He closed the fridge and went to change his clothes, his stomach rumbling in disappointment.

"…" In contrast to yesterday, today Kiba seemed to have been stunned into silence by Naruto's arrival.

"Morning guys!" The blond said cheerfully, a large grin on his face.

"Morning!" his friends answered him as he sat down at his usual spot next to his uncharacteristically silent friend.

"What's up Kiba? You look like you just saw a ghost." Naruto laughed at the dark haired boys face.

"Yeah man, maybe not a ghost but there is some freaky paranormal shit going on with you!" the group laughed at his words. "Morning classes two days in a row? Are you possessed by a demon or something?"

The blond grinned at him.

"Must be a pretty awesome demon, he also made get up before 6 this morning and tidy my flat."

The look on Kiba's face was priceless, Naruto wished he pulled out his phone to snap a picture. Blond's stomach rumbled loudly breaking the silence.

"Man, I'm so hungry… I didn't get a chance to grab breakfast."

"What the hell, how come if you got up so early? You can consume a large ramen in 90 seconds flat." Kiba pointed out.

"Yeah, well I didn't want to eat ramen for breakfast. It's not exactly a breakfast food is it?" Naruto spoke both to his friend and himself. The rest of the group gave him a slightly surprised look. In comparison Kiba's expression seemed to turn blank.

As the class finished the group started leaving the room.

"Do you guys have anything now or should we go to the lounge?" Sakura asked.

"I'm free for 3 hours, let's go relax!" Kiba said enthusiastically which was met with a general approval. He turned to Naruto. "You coming man?"

"Uhh, I actually have a math tutorial now." Naruto suddenly remembered. Even though it was already third week of the semester he hasn't gone to a single one. Anyone with an average grade below 55% in the first semester was required to take tutorials this term. He really should start going if he didn't want to get into trouble.

"I will catch you guys after I'm done." His friends nodded and he headed towards the science part of the building. He entered one of the smaller classrooms and noticed around 15 other students who were already there. He vaguely recognised some of them. There was a girl with long black hair, similar to the guy he saw sparring yesterday. Her name was something like… Hana? Hinata? Naruto wasn't sure. She was tutored by a guy in round sunglasses whose name was Shino. His eyes shifted towards a red spot in the room and he realised it was the guy who handed him the form the day before. Not wanting to stand in the doorway stupidly for any longer he walked towards the teacher supervising the class.

"Your name kid?" A silver haired man didn't even look up from the book he was reading.

"Uh… Naruto Uzumaki."

The teacher glanced at a piece of paper in front of him for a minute and marked Naruto's attendance.

"Your tutor is Gaara. He is the one with red hair. Also, these are for you." He pointed at a small stack of papers on his desk. Naruto stared at him blankly.

"Uh, what are these?" he asked the teacher who already got back to his book.

"Oh, the assignments and exercises you missed so far. Please bring them to Gaara for your tutorial next week."

Blond stared at him. He was going to have _assignments_ for this class? No way. He sighed, grabbed the pile and walked towards the redhead who seemed to be reading a magazine, but looked up as Naruto approached his desk.

"Uhh, hey. I think you are my tutor for this class. I'm Naruto."

"I know." came a short reply and Naruto sat down as Gaara put away his magazine. 'Healthy Living'? Naruto caught a glimpse of the cover. 'How… odd. Do guys our age read these?'

"You skipped two previous weeks." Gaara stared at him.

"Uhh… yeah. I kinda forgot I even had this class, sorry…"Naruto scratched his cheek. He felt bad knowing that the guy was waiting for him, even though he probably would much prefer to be doing anything else but tutoring.

"What was your average?" The redhead ignored Naruto's apology.

"Uh, 43%..." He expected his tutor to sigh but his expression remained as emotionless as ever.

"You need to do all the exercises that you were just given. Is there a particular topic you have trouble with that I should explain?" Naruto shook his head. He wasn't failing because he was stupid, he was just incredibly lazy.

"Good, if you run into a problem you can't do just ask." The redhead went back to reading his magazine, leaving Naruto to his work.

Finally after what seemed like forever the bell rang. Naruto managed to do some of the problems but there were just so many of them… And they were incredibly boring as well. He started packing away his things when Gaara spoke to him again:

"Will you be joining then?"

"Huh?" Naruto blinked at him blankly.

"The club I mean." The redhead clarified.

"Oh, that! Uh, maybe yeah…" Since last night he hasn't really thought about it at all, it was almost surprising how easily he pushed it to the back of his mind. Gaara stared at him for a few seconds.

"You should." He said simply and walked away before Naruto could ask him why did it even matter to the boy if he joined or not.

He collected the rest of his things and headed towards the lounge area. As he walked past the cafeteria his stomach almost turned. He completely forgot how hungry he was! It was definitely time to eat something. He went in to look at the menu. There were of course staple student foods like pizza, chips and burgers. His stomach rumbled appreciatively at the sound of those. Surprisng himself though Naruto decided to order a pasta salad with sun blushed tomatoes, fresh spinach and a bit of parmesan. He had his ordered packed to take away and joined his friends. Ino and Sakura waved at him when they spotted him enter the area.

"How was your tutorial? I'm surprised you even went!" Kiba greeted him between one chip and another.

"Oh man, fuck these tutorials." He pulled out his stack of papers. "I need to do all of these for next week, otherwise they will probably fail me."

"Wow, for real? That sucks Naruto." Ino flicked through the papers. "These are so boring!"

"Tell me about it." The blond sighed before putting his papers away.

"Oh, by the way guys! There is a party on Saturday at my friend's cousin's house. Who's in?" Sakura asked excitedly.

"Awesome, I really need to blow off some steam!" Naruto's mood improved considerably.

"Hell yeah, I'm in as well!" Kiba joined in. "Is your friend hot?"

Sakura and Ino rolled their eyes, there was only one thing Kiba loved more than booze and that was girls. He attempted to hit on both Ino and Sakura at the beginning of college but he was shot down pretty epically.

The girls started teasing their friend about his failed female pursuits and Naruto let himself space out, thinking back to the match he saw yesterday and the rest of his afternoon and the net few days passed uneventfully. His strong resolution to improve lost a bit of its impact, and although his flat remained clean it seemed his clothes migrated back to the floor almost on their own accord. He also only remembered to buy earplugs when it was too late, i.e. when he was awoken rudely before 6am. By Friday he didn't even swear excessively and just got up instead.

He pulled himself together that week and by Saturday morning he somehow managed to finish all the math exercises that he was set. He also caught a few glimpses of the short haired guy around college during the week, and it seemed to Naruto that their eyes always locked for at least a brief moment. What has wrong with him? This was just a random guy, why was he even paying attention to him?

He carefully tip toed in his head around the idea of whether or not join the Taekwondo club. He even filled the form and scanned it (he just had some time to kill!). The document was sitting on his desktop ready for him to decide what to do with it. He could always just delete it right?

Saturday evening finally came and he was ready to party. He decided to wear black jeans and an orange top, which was _slightly_ tight. 'It was FITTED.' Naruto told himself. He met up with his friends in the city centre and they all took a bus together since Sakura was the only one who knew the way. Soon they arrived in one of the posh areas on the outskirts of their city and the pink-haired girl led them towards one the mansions. They could hear loud music coming from the inside.

"Fuck me, that's a huge house!" Kiba's didn't hide his surprise.

"Yeah, they whole family is very rich." Sakura nodded and looked at him. "Try not to destroy anything, I'm pretty sure none of us could afford a replacement."

Naruto and Kiba sent each other knowing looks. If anyone managed to break something, chances were it would be them. They should at least try to behave, and in the worst case scenario disappear as soon as possible from the crime scene.

Sakura rang the bell and soon after the doors opened.

"Yes?" a strong male voice greeted them.

"We are Hinata's friends, she invited us over." Sakura introduced them. "You're Neji, right? I'm Sakura." She smiled at him. Naruto looked at the guy in the doorway from behind Kiba and his eyes went wide. The long haired one from the sparring! What were the odds? He gaped at him for a while, when the host looked around at them before answering Sakura.

"Yeah, I'm Neji. Come in, I will go find Hinata for you." He left the doors open for them to enter and disappeared in the crowd.

The group made their way inside. Naruto wondered if he should treat this coincidence as a sign or not. Why did it even matter? Ultimately it was his choice weather or not join the club. Why was he looking for excuses?

The house was impressive. Even over the crowds they could tell that it had a stylish, high-end décor. A black haired girl suddenly appeared in front of them, and Naruto recognised her from his tutorial. So her name was Hinata after all.

"Hinata! Nice to see you, thank you for inviting us!" Sakura greeted her friend.

"Sakura…" the girls voice was quiet and shy. "It's my pleasure, thank you for coming…"

"I'll introduce you to the rest." Sakura turned to her friends. "This is Ino, Kiba, Naruto, Shikamaru and Chouji." She pointed at each one of them.

"Nice to meet you all…" Hinata blushed a little. "I will guide you around the house."

They followed her further inside the mansion, she showed them where the kitchens were (there were 3 of them), bathrooms (7 in total) the living room, games room and terrace. They grabbed some drinks from the kitchen and sat down on some empty sofas to chat. The party was a little bit stiff as it was still rather early and people didn't get a chance to get too drunk yet.

About 3 beers and countless shots later Naruto was in a comfortable state of drunk happiness. Kiba was in the middle of one of his stories trying to flirt with Hinata, when the blond decided it was time to find the bathroom. He was about to get up when a loud shout on the other side of the room caught everyone's attention.

"Hey everyone, Sasuke is here!" A happy cheer went across the room and a few seconds later said boy entered the room, his hands in his pockets.

"Hn." He greeted the partying crowd cooly, and Naruto's jaw dropped as he immediately recognised the guy.

A group of people swarmed around and a cake appeared out of nowhere.

"Congrats on getting into Nationals!" they cheered simultaneously.

Sasuke smiled at them lightly, clearly a bit surprised.

"Damn guys, this is unexpected. Thanks." Even though his reaction seemed almost cold people around him seemed to think it was enough and cheered again.

After a couple more moments everyone not friends with the raven haired boy went back to the conversations they were having before the he entered the room. Kiba started a new story which he hoped would impress his new target. Naruto was barely listening to his ramblings, his eyes still fixated on Sasuke. Why could he not look away? As if on command the other boy turned and looked straight at Naruto who quickly averted his gaze.

"Naruto, what's up?" Sakura poked him lightly in the stomach and giggled. "You were staring at that guy. Do you know him?" She questioned.

"What? Oh no, no I don't. I wasn't staring, I just spaced out. I need to pee." He quickly excused himself to search for a bathroom. A few rounds ago he would have found it without a problem, but now he felt a little bit lost. Eventually though he managed to find one of them (after all with 7 bathrooms in the house he had to come across one eventually).

Once he finished peeing he put the lid down and sat down for a while. He could swear the moment the guy entered the room his heart first stopped and then started to beat way too fast. He must be more drunk than he realised. He checked the time on his phone. It was barely midnight but maybe he should call it a night, clearly the alcohol went straight to his head and not in a good way. He took a few deep breathes before deciding to exit the bathroom. He opened the door and almost run into someone.

"Uh, sorry!" he blurted out and tried to walk away before realising there was a hand around his arm stopping him.

"Wait."

Naruto's heart almost skipped a beat as he heard the voice. He only heard it twice so far, but there was no mistaking it. Slowly he looked up at a guy he now knew was called Sasuke, who was looking him straight in the eyes. He was taller than Naruto. His dark fitted shirt and jeans emphasized his lean body, and he had a small necklace around his neck. The blond could feel his heart pounding against his chest loudly. He really wanted to look away but for some reason couldn't. And why was he paying attention the guy's clothing and body?

"You look familiar, yet I'm almost sure we haven't met before." Sasuke studied his face. "Do I know you?" He asked in a low, enquiring tone. His eyes studied Naruto's face, probably trying to establish why he looked familiar.

Did he notice Naruto was staring at him earlier? The blond had to swallow before speaking.

"Uh, we go to the same school." He answered trying to make his voice sound calm which was much harder than it should have been. Damn alcohol, he will never mix shots again. "I've seen you fight during the societies fair." He added.

The boy holding him said nothing for a while, as if trying to analyse Naruto's words.

"No, you look more familiar than that." He said finally. Naruto wasn't sure if he was accused of lying or if the guy's voice was naturally a little hostile.

The atmosphere was getting heavy, Sasuke had an intimidating aura of a skilled fighter, and alcohol in Naruto's blood seemed to amplify the blond's perception of this. He almost didn't register that Sasuke's face was much too close for his comfort.

"Naruto, there you are!" a loud shout finally snapped him out of it. 'Thank God for Kiba.' Naruto thought to himself relieved.

"Sakura was worried you got lost or got into trouble and sent me to find you." His friend explained.

"Oh no, I just went to the bathroom!" Naruto forced himself to grin. "Good thing you're such an obedient dog and listen to her orders though!" he teased his friend. The grip on his arm loosened and he quickly walked away towards Kiba who was now trying to land a hit on him, which Naruto effortlessly dodged. He could feel Sasuke's calculating gaze still on him and it took quite a bit of effort to not turn around.

"So, you up for another round? Or are you too weak?" Kiba teased him a challenge in his voice as they walked towards the kitchen.

"Me, weak? You pass out way before me! Bring it!" he didn't care how hangover he was going to be the next morning, right now all he wanted to do was to drink himself into sweet oblivion. Anything to stop thinking about Taekwondo, the club and those piercing black eyes.

* * *

That was a quick update wasn't it? I had almost half of this already written last night, so I just finished it up now. I hope you enjoyed this Chapter and the story so far!

Thank you also for the reviews and follows, keep them coming~!

J.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Unsurprisingly, the next morning really sucked. Even though it seemed the builders had weekends off Naruto didn't get to sleep in as his bladder threatened to burst any minute. It was still dark outside and he almost made it to the bathroom before realising how much his head hurt.

"Oh my fuck… I will never drink again." He groaned to himself holding his head as he eventually lied back down in his bed. How did he even get home last night? The last thing he remembered was tequila shots, then Kiba passed out behind one of the sofas. It crossed his mind that maybe he should check his phone but before he forced himself to move again he fell right back asleep.

When he opened his eyes again he knew that his hangover has gone from bad to dire in the last few hours. Seeing as he didn't even remember coming back home he probably didn't do anything to help the situation like drinking a glass of water. He reached over for his phone, moaning as the screen light was way too bright for his eyes to handle at the moment.

He stared at the phone for a few seconds trying to decipher the display as his mind was still slow from sleep and pain. ' Nine texts and four missed calls from Sakura, one from Shikamaru, one from Ino…' he opened up the texts. It seemed he suddenly vanished somewhere around 2am without telling anyone.

He sighed dialling Sakura's number, he had to know how he got home but he knew she wouldn't be happy with him considering her texts.

"Hello?" A sleepy and rather grumpy voice answered him.

"Sakura, good morning." He briefly looked at the clock on the wall. "Or afternoon rather."

"…Naruto?"

"Yeah, it's me."

"You idiot, I should have not answered the call especially from you!" Suddenly she was much more awake. Everyone knew Sakura had little patience when it came to Naruto.

"I'd say I'm sorry, but honestly I have no idea what the fuck happened last night." He told her scratching his cheek. "And please don't shout, my head is killing me and I might puke."

"Ha, serves you right. No sympathy for you." She laughed triumphantly. "You and Kiba had so much it's a wonder you two are alive."

"Tell me about it." He winced. "What even happened last night? The only thing I remember was Kiba passed out behind the sofa. I just saw all your missed calls too."

"Oh yeah, Kiba blacking out was hilarious. After last night I don't think he has a chance with Hinata." She laughed but her tone quickly turned into a slightly accusatory one. "And you! Damn it, Naruto suddenly it was like Earth swallowed you. I think we looked for you for over half an hour."

"Sorry about that… I guess you eventually found me though?"

"Yeah, eventually. You were asleep in Neji's bed apparently, though we only found you there after someone told us where to look for you." She explained.

"Huh?" Naruto was confused. "Who told you I was there?"

"Let me think, I can barely remember last night…" she went silent for a little while. "Oh, I know. It was that guy everyone made a fuss about when he came. The one you were… Wait a minute! That was the same guy you stared at!" she exclaimed loudly. "How did he know where you were? Do you need to tell me something?!"

Naruto didn't answer. He was glad he was still lying in bed as he would have probably dropped his phone as Sakura mentioned Sasuke. Why did he overreact so much every time the guy was mentioned?! God, why couldn't he remember anything? His stomach suddenly turned violently.

"Naruto? Are you listening?!"

"Sakura, I'm sorry I really need to go!" he ended the call and sprinted to the bathroom making it just in time. Today was really going to suck.

After a whole day in bed with occasional trips to bathroom and kitchen to get some water Naruto finally felt more like himself as the evening approached. He didn't call Sakura back in the end. Truth be told, he thought about the party so much he had no clue what to think anymore, especially about Sasuke and his own weird reactions.

He unwrapped himself from the covers and decided to check his email. He logged to his inbox and noticed 3 new messages.

'Spam, spam…' he stopped before deleting the last message. 'Huh?' he looked at the sender's address which read: TKD Club. He quickly opened the message and his eyes went wide.

_"Good choice. –GS."_

What choice? GS? He clicked on the [show quoted text] button.

_"Her's thw joinig form. Natuto."_

He stared blankly at his screen. …He sent the form to the club? When? He check the time of original message, it read 3:49am. He put his face in his hands. Not only did he get smashed last night, slept in another guy's bed, was first found by a different guy who made him feel weird, but apparently he also signed up for Taekwondo after all. And worst of all - _Natuto_? God he could die right now. He was the worst kind of drunk for sure.

Well at least now the reply made sense. GS must have been Gaara. He turned his laptop off, he should have just stayed in bed until tomorrow morning. He switched the lights off and wrapped himself in his duvet again. He felt exhausted but just before he fell asleep again he noted that, for some reason, he was almost glad about the drunken email. Despite the recent events this was a first night in years when he fell asleep with a small smile on his lips.

"Guys, where can I buy scales?" Naruto asked his friends as they were eating lunch the next day. The builders were back with full force this morning and so it seemed Naruto's attendance would become a regular occurrence, at least for a while. The blond felt much better today, probably due to buckets of water he drank the day before and the fact he mainly napped the whole day. On the other hand Kiba still displayed a worrying shade of green and being surrounded by food did not seem to help.

"Scales? Like kitchen scales?" Ino asked him finishing her salad.

"No, no I mean like bathroom scales, to weigh yourself." Naruto's explanation earned him a few curious looks from his friends.

"Why the fuck would you need one?" Kiba finally asked confused.

"To weigh myself, duh?"

"I know what you use it for, genius." Kiba glared at him. "I'm asking why YOU need it."

"Well, I want to lose weight…" he looked away to the side suddenly embarrassed at how lame it sounded. It sounded like something a girl would say! "Or rather not lose weight but get in shape." He clarified.

Sakura and Ino exchange looks and burst into laughter, and were soon joined by Kiba.

"What's so funny?!" Naruto shouted at them offended.

"Good joke man." Kiba pretended to wipe a tear from his eye. "You love booze and food and I think your laziness can only be matched by mine!". The two girls seemed to share this opinion.

Naruto knew he couldn't blame them for viewing him this way, after all they only met him a few years back. None of them knew anything about his family as he straight out refused to talk about it. But he couldn't help but to get angry at his friends' words. Wasn't it their job to support him instead of mocking?

"Oh yeah? Well fuck you all, I'll show you who is lazy." He grabbed his bag and stormed off. He was so furious he didn't notice he almost walked into someone. What was it with him walking into people?! He was about to mutter a short apology when he realised he just walked into Gaara.

"Oh! Gaara I'm sorry, I wasn't looking where I was going!" he said quickly to the red head who seemed to be examining him.

"Why are you angry?" Gaara asked him calmly catching Naruto off guard.

"Huh?" the blond blinked. "How do you know I'm angry?"

It was a stupid question, honestly. Not only was Naruto usually bad at hiding his emotions, this time he wasn't even trying. Gaara was still looking at him, clearly waiting for his explanation.

"It's just my friends are jerks sometimes." He sighed. "I asked them where would one get bathroom scales and they laughed in my face."

Why was he even telling the redhead about his lame problems?

"Department store near the centre."

Naruto looked at him confused.

"You can get scales in one of the stores. I was about to go there if you want to join." Gaara offered. Naruto's eyes went a little wider, as not only did Gaara not laugh but even offered company! Was this _the_ Gaara that was considered completely anti-social and who was generally avoided because he was "scary"? Well at this moment he was nicer than Naruto's so called friends.

"Sure, sounds great!" he answered with a grin.

As they headed towards the city centre Naruto's anger seemed to have vanished as he was happily babbling about random topics to keep the conversation going. Once inside the shopping centre Gaara led him to the appropriate store. As he didn't want to head straight home Naruto decided to walk around a bit more with Gaara. It appeared that the redhead was headed for a sports store.

"Ah, I should probably get some stuff here too for training." Naruto realised he had nothing to wear for his first training session on Wednesday. He decided he should go at least once and see if he could experience the same kind of excitement he used to years ago.

Gaara looked at him questioningly.

"Do you not have a Dobok or Gi at home?"

"Uh, well yeah I do…" Naruto trailed off. Indeed he still had his parents training and competition clothes. Apart from the framed picture they were the only thing he kept. His eyes widened a little.

"Wait, Gaara why would you think I have a Dobok?" He looked at the redhead who was currently browsing running clothes and seemed to pay little attention to slight agitation in Naruto's voice. He grabbed one of the shirts, and just before he left for the changing rooms he looked Naruto in the eyes.

"Namikaze." He said simply and walked away, leaving shocked Naruto in the middle of the store.

Naruto never thought that someone would make a connection. Sure, he took after his father looks-wise. But his parents greatly valued their privacy when they were alive, and after their death his godfather advised Naruto to adopt his mother's surname to distance himself from the media mayhem.

How did Gaara figure it out so quickly?

Gaara found the blond in the exact same spot he left him a couple of minutes before.

"I won't tell anyone if you wish." He said.

"…Thank you." Naruto answered finally. "How did you even figure it out?"

"My siblings and I also train Judo. We often analyze old fights at my club. Last weekend we watched fights from 1988 Olympics." Gaara explained, turned towards the tills to pay and Naruto followed him.

"I see." Talk about coincidences, apparently his life was full of them recently.

The two of them didn't talk more about the matter. Naruto avoided the topic on purpose and Gaara wasn't the kind of person to push the issue. Eventually they decided to call it a day and went their separate ways.

As soon as he got home Naruto unpacked his new scales and put them in the bathroom. At first he wanted to weigh himself straight away, but eventually decided he'll probably feel better if he ate better for a few days and _then_ weighed himself. There was no point in making himself depressed.

He took a brown box from under his bed. The tape he put on it almost 10 years ago was still there, untouched. He hesitated for a little while but eventually cut the tape with a knife and opened the box. Seeing the clothes his parents used to proudly wear when they were still here was much harder than he thought it would be. He took out his mother's Dobok and unwrapped it from the protective foil.

He remembered that it used to be just a little bit too big for her, which usually would play to her disadvantage yet she refused to get a different one.

_"Minato gave it to me on our first anniversary. Not sure if he thought I was fatter than I was or did he expect me to grow bigger as his wife!"_ she used to laugh.

Of course it was of best quality, his father would not have settled for anything less for his beloved wife. Naruto hesitated again but tried it on. It was slightly on the short side but it would do. He looked back to the box. He'd definitely have to borrow a belt though, he doubted it was a good idea to show up with his mother's or father's black belt.

His stomach growled loudly, so Naruto put the box back under his bed, folded his mother's Dobok and put it on his chair. He needed to wash it before we'd be able to wear it. He quickly prepared a whole cup of ramen and he could already see the bottom of the cup when he remembered he was supposed to eat healthy. He sighed loudly. He's friends had that right, he loved food.

Tuesday passed quickly. Naruto felt guilty about the way he treated his friends and although they weren't exactly supportive it wasn't their fault that they only knew this side of him. He apologised to them and it seemed that things were fine between them again. Sakura and Ino even offered him some diet and nutrition tips which he was grateful for. He also handed Gaara his work during tutorial, only to obtain the next set of exercises.

Before he realised it was already Wednesday afternoon and in an hour his first session would start. He decided not to tell his friends that he joined the Taekwondo club. In case he decided that in the end he didn't want to do it ever again he wouldn't have to explain it to them. It was easier this way.

At 5:45pm he headed to the changing rooms by one of the sports halls to put on his Dobok. Gaara was already there. The redhead gave him an acknowledging nod and handed him a white belt.

"Figured you didn't have one." The redhead explained.

"Ah, thanks Gaara, you're awesome." Naruto grinned at him, also to hide how nervous he was. It wasn't just a training session. To him, it was so much more. It had such a huge emotional significance he could feel his heart pound in his chest. He noticed Gaara put on a red belt with a tab, which was the last belt before black.

"Gaara, what belt are you in Judo?"

"Black." The redhead replied. Naruto felt a slight, unexplainable surge of jealousy. _He_ could have had a black belt easily by now. But the fact was that he didn't and he could only blame himself.

They made their way to the sports hall as the session was about to start. The room has huge. Gaara walked over to a group of other red and black belts, and Naruto spotted the long-haired guy, Neji, among them. He felt slight embarrassment as he remembered where Sakura apparently found him sleeping on Saturday. To his relief he noticed a few more white belts and even two people who were training in sweatpants so he joined them quickly introducing himself shortly.

"Okay, line up!" A tall, middle aged man step in front of the group in the hall. Silently, everyone formed a long row, standing straight with their arms on their sides, lowest ranks on the left and highest on the right. They bowed to the instructor in front of them and he bowed back.

"I see quite a few new faces here." The man continued. "As this is an introductory session for many of you I would like to get to know you and explain some things first. Neji?"

The long hair guy stepped from the row and bowed.

"Yes, sir?"

"As vice-captain I'd like you to lead everyone's warm up as I speak to the newbies."

Neji bowed again and called the rest of the group towards him.

"This way." The instructor lead them to a far corner of the sports hall. "Let me introduce myself properly. My name is Yamato. I'm glad you decided to join the club. Let's have a show of hands, how many of you have done any kind of martial arts before?"

Slowly, Naruto put his hand up. He realised he was the only one.

"What's your name?" Yamato asked him.

"Naruto, sir."

"And what martial arts have you trained before?"

The blond hesitated a little before answering.

"I used to do some Taekwondo and a little bit of Judo when I was little…" Well, more like a lot but he doubted he remembered anything with regards to practical side of it.

"Very good. I assume you are familiar with how sessions work, how to behave in Dojang and such?"

Naruto nodded in response as a large thud of opening doors filled the hall. This attracted the attention of new club members. Naruto's jaw almost dropped to the floor as he immediately recognised the black Dobok. How could he even forget that Sasuke was also in this club?

The black haired boy walked over towards the instructor and bowed.

"I apologise for being late."

"Accepted." Yamato bowed in response.

"New additions to the club?" Sasuke asked as he glanced at the small group. His expression barely changed but a surprise lingered in his eyes as he spotted Naruto among them.

"Indeed. I need to go through basic rules and etiquette." Yamato pointed at the blond. "Naruto apparently trained in the past so it would be a waste of time for him. Go through a warm up with him, you'll need it as well."

"Yes, sir." Sasuke bowed again.

Naruto felt a slight hint of panic as the guy in front of him looked at him expectantly, waiting for him to follow. Maybe coming to this session wasn't a good idea at all. He should have just gone home. Oh god. What did he get himself into?

* * *

Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed this Chapter!

Just to explain:

**Gi** is a traditional outfit which is used in Japanese martial arts such as Judo and Karate.

**Dojang** is a Taekwondo training place, a Dojo is Japanese equivalent.

Thank you for all the reviews and follows! (Special thanks to Chocomellica, thank you so much for your kind words!)

Keep them coming, I really appreciate feedback!

J.


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